the right hand of God' (Heb. 10:5-12).  In both references to priest and

sacrifice, 'this Man' excels by reason of resurrection life.

A sinner who pays the penalty of his own sins has no claim upon life.

He is finished.  The sacrifices offered under the old covenant were

substitutes for the sinner, but their efficacy resided in the fact that they

pointed on to a better Sacrifice.  The penalty was inflicted, death endured,

the blood shed, but where was the possibility of life?  Were any of the bulls

and goats ever raised from the dead?  There is something deeper and fuller

even than substitution, and that is identification, and it is in this blessed

relationship that Christ is seen as the Surety, Whose Sacrifice for sin is

the only one that could put away sin, and Whose resurrection from the dead

alone gives to those identified with Him the hope of glory.

In Hebrews, Christ is seen as the Surety of the better covenant.

Although the word 'surety' is not used in Ephesians and Colossians, we hope

to show that every passage that speaks of dying 'with Christ' or being raised

'with Christ' passes beyond the thought of sacrifice and substitution to that

fullest and closest of all relationships expressed by the titles of the

Kinsman-Redeemer and Surety.

The word translated 'surety' in the Old Testament is the Hebrew word

arab, which in the form of arrabon is brought over into New Testament Greek,

occurring in Ephesians 1:14 as 'earnest'.  This word corresponds with

'pledge' in Genesis 38:17,18: 'Wilt thou give me a pledge till thou send it?'

The root idea seems to be that of mixing or mingling:

'A mixed multitude' (margin, a great mixture) (Exod. 12:38).

'The holy seed have mingled themselves' (Ezra 9:2).

'A stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy' (Prov. 14:10).

'In the warp, or woof' (Lev. 13:48).

Arising out of this idea of mixing and interweaving comes that of the

surety, who is so intimately associated with the obligations laid upon the

one for whom he acts that he can be treated in his stead.  So we get:

'Thy servant became surety for the lad' (Gen. 44:32).

'He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it' (Prov. 11:15).

'We have mortgaged our lands' (Neh. 5:3).

'Give pledges to my lord the king' (2 Kings 18:23).

In Ezekiel 27:9,27 we find the word translated 'occupy' in the sense of

exchange or bartering in the way we understand the expression, 'Occupy till I

come', and still speak of a man's trade as his 'occupation'.

Such is the underlying meaning of the word 'surety', one who identifies

himself with another in order to bring about deliverance from obligations.

This is clearly seen in Proverbs 22:26,27: 'Be not thou one of them that

strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.  If thou hast nothing

to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?'  It is evident from

this passage that the surety was held liable for the debts of the one whose

cause he had espoused, even to the loss of his bed, and this meant

practically his all, as may be seen by consulting Exodus 22:26,27: 'If thou

at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him